Chennai: Corporation officials put at risk whistleblower citizens

CHENNAI: Ward level corporation officials continue to reveal names of people who register encroachment complaints with the civic body. While officials get off scot free the affected parties visit and threaten complainant so that the complaint is taken back.
Civic activist P Sajeevan of Perungudi was frequently visited by encroachers after they were removed from the footpaths along Thirumalai Nagar Road.This happened last week. Over a year ago, Sajeevan faced the same problem as the ward engineer gave away his name to the encroachers.
“I raised a complaint regarding footpath encroachment by coconut vendors, tea and food stalls, fish stalls on Thirumalai Nagar Road. After the encroachments were removed on Saturday morning, one of the vendors visited my office and asked me not to make complaints as it affects their livelihoods,” said Sajeevan, who is the joint secretary of Kamarajar Nagar Residents Welfare Association.
Later, on Sunday evening, seven vendors visited his house and pleaded with his parents as well.
“One of the vendors mentioned that it was assistant engineer of the ward Dhandapani who told them that the complaint was raised by me and can be resolved if the complainant doesn’t have a problem,” said Sajeevan, who submitted a letter at the office of the regional deputy commissioner (south) on Monday mentioning how inefficient the engineer had been in removing encroachments. It also mentioned how life-threatening the act of revealing complainant details could to be.
When TOI contacted, Dhandapani refuted the allegation, saying “I did remove the encroachments except one that had a clearance but it is not my business to give out a complainant’s name.” He denied any knowledge how vendors got office and residential details of the complainant.
Residents across the city have faced the issue of corporation officials at ward level revealing their names and putting them in trouble. Civic activists like B Kannan, in T Nagar, and TD Babu, in Adyar, have been at the receiving end of such acts.
“Not only corporation, but also traffic police do such things. Once I registered a complaint of dumping sand by road. The same day I was visited by people who asked what bothered me when it was not near my house,” said Babu.
“Serious action will be taken according to the rules. A detailed instruction in the form of a circular will be issued soon,” said corporation commissioner G Prakash.